April 2011

Home Depot was sued in 2008 by two whistleblowers claiming that the company had violated the False Claims Act by selling products that did not comply with the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”) to the U.S. government through its GSA Schedule contract. The United States has not intervened in the case. Home Depot recently moved for reconsideration of

Photo of Peter J. Eyre

On April 26, 2011, the government issued a proposed rule governing organizational conflicts of interest.  This proposed rule diverges substantially from the current framework in FAR 9.5, from the DFARS rule proposed last year, and from certain aspects of decades of decisional law from GAO and the Court of Federal Claims. Please click here for

On April 13, 2011, the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved S. 498, the Independent Task and Delivery Order Review Extension Act of 2011. This bill extends the Government Accountability Office’s (“GAO”) protest jurisdiction over task and delivery orders under civilian agency procurements in excess of $10 million through September 30,

Photo of Peter J. Eyre

As we blogged previously, as of today – April 15, 2011 – the public has access to all information (excluding past performance reviews) in the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (“FAPIIS”). FAPIIS was created in 2010 as a one-stop shop for contracting officers to review information about prospective contractors’ business ethics, integrity,

Verizon Communications, Inc. recently paid the U.S. government $93.5 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations that it overcharged the government on voice and data telecommunications services contracts.  In addition to the significance of the amount paid, the case is notable for both the government’s aggressive enforcement of FAR provisions and the fact the

Photo of Jonathan M. Baker

For one reason or another, the date on which an agency anticipates granting a contract award often comes and goes with no award decision being made. In these situations, contractors are often asked beforehand to extend the acceptance period of their proposals to accommodate the expected delay in award. But what happens when the contractor

Lost in the current political fight over the federal budget is the reality that a government shutdown may have consequences for civil litigation pending in the federal courts. If federal government attorneys are included in the approximately 800,000 staffers deemed non-essential, they will be banned from using email, accessing their Blackberrys, and doing any